


Fierce and Bright

by anaraine



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-23 02:36:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2530862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anaraine/pseuds/anaraine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The King of the Brethren Court is not an empty title.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fierce and Bright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lizardbeth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizardbeth/gifts).



> Trick or treat, Lizardbeth! I had a lot of fun revisiting this fandom as a pinch hit - I hope I touched on Elizabeth as you see her.

The King of the Brethren Court is not an empty title. Elizabeth does not know the limits of her position, not yet, but she does know this: she will not die of old age. She has kept her youth and vitality through two decades and three pregnancies. She looks as she did when she was married, but her health and strength have improved by leaps and bounds. It is rare that she gets sick, and her wounds heal faster than anyone she knows, save her husband. And to reiterate her answer to Jack's pointed questions, Elizabeth has _not_ sipped from a chalice of water containing a mermaid's tear.

By the time Elizabeth figures out what is going on with her body, she is not exactly surprised. The world is filled with strange magic, so long as one chooses to see it when it appears. She does not know if this is a gift from Calypso or something that the first Brethren Court imbued within the title, intending that their first King remain their only King - or at least until a proper heir appeared. Elizabeth is not all that concerned with picking at the magic to understand its core, though. Some things are meant to be a mystery. She is very pleased, however, to know that her husband will not have to watch her wither and die.

Her love for Will has only grown over the years. They have danced around the magic that keeps Will at sea, laughing at the way it should separate them. Elizabeth may not be able to follow Will into the worlds beyond, but neither is she afraid to join him on his ship when he sails through mortal seas. His crew has come to know her as well as they do him, the woman who takes such a fierce joy in dancing with their captain as he travels between life and death.

It is not possible for Elizabeth to remain on Will's ship for months on end, but she is not altogether upset by the condition. She has her own ship and crew, not to mention her children. Her oldest son and youngest daughter are of the seas like she and Will are, but her middle son has found his place on land. She does not begrudge him the choice, and he has enough of the sea in his blood to settle in a town next to the ocean, which makes visiting him an easy thing to do.

There are, of course, some days where Will's absence is a painful and heavy ache. Days where her youngest daughter does not soothe her raw edges, when she idly thinks about how she might be able to die at sea and stay with Will forever. On those days, Elizabeth retreats to where she has hidden a small chest. She oils the lock which hides a treasure that cannot be measured in gold. The key that hangs between her breasts is always warm when she pulls it free from under her shirt, and the click as the lock opens is always unbearably loud in the dark.

On those days, Elizabeth cups a beating heart in her hands and brushes her thumbs against living flesh in a soft caress. The heartbeat will always stutter and then return twice as strong; Will has told her that he can feel it when she touches his heart, a growing warmth in the cavity of his chest that is as painful as it is lovely. She never does it for long, never knowing what Will is doing at that moment and never desiring to distract him to the point of recklessness. He cannot die when his heart is safe and protected in her hands, but that does not mean he cannot feel the bite of a sword or the bullet of a gun. She returns her husband's heart to the chest and locks it away again, but often stays there in the dark with her ear pressed against cold wood, listening to the steady beat until she knows that she is not alone.

When she returns to face the world again, her smile is always fierce and bright.


End file.
